The Easter Moose

Catherine Marshall's story reveals the heartbreak and hope of foster parenting. Thirty-eight and newly married, Catherine yearned to be a mother and adoption seemed a viable option. The county's Foster-Adopt Program was affordable, so she and her new husband were confident they could adopt and parent two siblings. But nothing was as it seemed. The birth parents used intimidation and the court system to sabotage the adoption. The social services agency wavered in its support. Even the children, three-year old Jenny and six-year old Robert, were unaware of the ticking time bomb of genetics and early neglect that would detonate in their teens. Would the family survive intact? Would the marriage withstand the stress? Would the children overcome the same afflictions and addictions that had plagued their birth parents? The Easter Moose: One Family's Journey Adopting through Foster Care provides all parents, but particularly those adopting, fostering, or caring for children with challenges, the assurance they are not alone. Social workers, teachers, people who work in the family court system, and anyone who believes in nurture over nature will get a reality check. Ms. Marshall has written a riveting book that details her travails adopting two children. Social Services' numerous omissions of information, changes of biological parents rights, and failure to support the adoptive family's needs set the stage for a scary story that reads like fiction but, unfortunately, is not. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in adoption, I believe Ms. Marshall's book is unique but, unfortunately, the story of her adoption experience is not. The country's adoption policy is broken, wreaking havoc on many adoptive families. Kudos to Ms. Marshall for her relentless determination to defend her new family. -June Mikkelsen, licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in adoption Catherine Marshall's openhearted and honest account of foster parent adoption is the first authentic report of the truth behind our broken foster care system, which fails young children most in need of parenting. Catherine tells her own story of the doubts, risks, and hopes that go into adoption of troubled foster children, and the morning-after realization of taking on so much more than she ever imagined. Her fair-minded report of her fight for her children's future somehow comforts my wife, Annie, and me in our frustration and grief at this system that stripped our foster daughter of her best chance for a good life. -Bill Baker, former foster parent I was captivated by Catherine's story. It should be required reading for all prospective parents of foster kids. My own experience was similar. I expected that giving a child a loving, stable environment would ensure she would become a happy adult. Not so. It's much more complicated than that. -Alice Bonner, former foster parent